US push on intellectual property conflicts with international norms

WikiLeaks has once again provided
key insight into the secret workings of governments. In a Nov. 13 release, the
anti-secrecy organization published the draft text
of the intellectual property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
(TPP).

One of the most controversial pieces
of international law in recent years, the TTP is President Barack Obama’s
signature Asia-Pacific economic project aimed at protecting American interests
in the region. The current negotiations include twelve countries: the U.S.,
Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore,
Canada, Mexico, and Brunei. Over time, the U.S. hopes to expand TPP’s reach to
incorporate all members of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum — comprising roughly 40 percent of the
world’s population, 55 percent of global GDP, and some of the world’s fastest
growing economies. It is possible that South Korea, Thailand and even China
might join the TPP in the future.

Since Wikileaks made the
intellectual property (IP) chapter public, multiple organizationshaveprovidedextensive
and detailed critiques. According to these analyses, the text demonstrates U.S.
preference for increasing protections on existing copyrights and patents over
balanced policies that promote global innovation, creativity and political
freedom. The disclosures especially suggest the inordinate influence of the
motion picture and pharmaceutical industries. In the first brief interview
commenting on the leak, the U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman defended
the proposal saying it is within the bounds of U.S. law.

Further analysis of the IP chapter
shows that it violates international consensus on several important issues.
First, the U.S. is pushing provisions that conflict with the World Intellectual
Property Organization’s Development Agenda, which requires that development
concerns be a formal part of global IP policy. Second, the chapter also takes a
controversial approach to the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Declaration
on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Public
Health. TRIPS sets the standards for intellectual property protection in the
world today, which are binding on all members of WTO. The Doha Declaration
affirms that TRIPS signatories should interpret and implement TRIPS in a manner
supportive of their own rights to protect public health and, in particular, to
promote access to medicines for all. Although the IP chapter makes explicit
reference to the Doha Declaration, the IP chapter is designed to narrow its
scope, thereby limiting access to medicines and restricting what governments
can do to protect public health.

Third,
U.S. proposals also contradict the current policy discussions on access to
medicines and on research & development at the World Health Organization
and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Fourth, the TPP chapter also
jeopardizes the flexibilities guaranteed under fair use doctrine by pushing for
strict enforcement of copyrights online.

The
significance of the leak. The
secretly negotiated trade deal symbolizes the consolidation of a “forum
shifting” — a strategy designed to establish an international norm while
evading multilateral and more transparent international agreements on
intellectual property and internet policy negotiations, and the rights they
grant to the public sector. In addition
to reinforcing the secret environment normally preferred by private interests,
the closed-door negotiation of TPP disregards broader international efforts,
takes advantage of power imbalances against the developing world and limits
citizens’ freedoms as internet users, patients and consumers.

The current
effort to rebrand the talks as “trade” and make the deals non-transparent also
counters progress made through decades of cooperation between civil society
organizations and governments to create room for public engagement on IP
policy. In the current disclosures,
Canada, Chile and New Zealand pushed back strongly against U.S. demands on IP,
patents and copyright, while the U.S dominated the list of proposals pushed
by a single country. This is further evidence that the strong campaigns from
civil society, both through engagements at TPP negotiating rounds and through
protests, has had some impact even while being aggressively excluded. [Abridged]

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About Me

I am not an academic. I have been a commercial beekeeper in New Zealand for most of my working life, except for four years in detention as a conscientious objector during WW2. Those years were particularly formative for me. I have retained my horror of war and the suffering still being caused by armed conflict and violence in so many places. My convictions have been nurtured by my Methodist church connection, though my pacifism has been deplored by some good people.

Expect no slick answers here; I am still a searcher myself. How can a just and peaceful society develop from this chaos, and what are the obstacles in the way?

Most of the articles posted here are from other sources. I look for writers, wherever they can be found, who can throw light on what is happening in our world. If you would like to learn a little more about myself, please read this biographical interview series conducted by my granddaughter, Kyla.